


Exhaustion

by JAB08199



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-04
Updated: 2019-01-04
Packaged: 2019-10-04 03:07:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17296571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JAB08199/pseuds/JAB08199
Summary: Hope can't sleep. Josie comes to the rescue.





	Exhaustion

**Author's Note:**

> When I imagine Hope totally exhausted and sleep deprived here I imagine her almost like shes completely shit-faced drunk and that's pretty much what's going on here. Enjoy~

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Three hours. Three hours of tossing and turning. With one last toss, Hope turned to look at the clock on the nightstand next to her bed. 1:47 AM. With a sigh, she decides to get out of bed for the day already knowing that she won’t be able to fall asleep. It was just one of those days. Her mind was more awake than ever with thoughts of what her next art project would be, the next possible threat to the school, her relationship with Alaric, what the rest of her family is up to or what’s left of it, missing her mom and dad and of course her beautiful girlfriend. Josie Saltzman Hope thought with a smile. After that night in the park, Hope had grown extremely close to the brunette siphon after that afternoon cleaning up the town. They had their speed bumps early in their friendship. Hope remembers feeling absolutely crushed when Josie had shut her out after the gargoyle incident. That had terrified her, someone having that kind of effect on her. Hope didn’t like caring for more people than she already did, she had a bad experience with crushes. She knew Josie wasn’t like Roman or Landon but her past experiences had already left a bad taste in her mouth. So when Josie, apparently after stewing in her anger at Hope long enough for it to dissipate and apologized she was even more scared. They had worked it out though. Josie had continued to be friendly and Hope had gradually gotten used to it. Somewhere along the line, they had begun dating, much to Lizzie’s despair. She was still convinced that the only reason the other twin even spoke to her at all is that Josie didn’t talk to her for a week. A whole week living in the same room and Josie didn’t say a thing, barely even looked in her direction. Hope assumed that Lizzie finally realized how serious Josie was about their relationship and apologized. They were on decent terms now. Though the tribrid could tell that Lizzie still wasn’t very fond of her but put up with her because she made Josie happy.

Shaking herself from her thoughts Hope had a rare bright smile on her face. The type of smile that was reserved only for her family was now used for one, Josie Saltzman. Making Josie happy was now one of Hope’s favorite things in the world, but being cared for by Josie was just as incredible. She still felt scared from time to time about having someone so close to her. Though for the time being there were no threats looming in the dark, no skeletons coming out of anyone’s closets, for now the Salvatore Boarding School was at a time of peace. The threat of exposure always hanging in the distance but they had dealt with that before. So, she allowed herself to be happy.

Continuing through the halls she made her way down to the main floor and out the front door. Depositing her clothes safely behind a tree she shifted and took off. She didn’t know what else to do. Even if she wanted to seek comfort from Josie she couldn’t. Not only would she not wake her up at this time of night but Alaric and the twins had been out of town for the week on some family only recruiting mission so they could spend more time together. They were finally coming home today. Maybe that’s why she couldn’t sleep Hope thought, she was just too excited to be able to see her girlfriend. Hope ran until her lungs burned and her muscles ached before returning to the stache of clothes by the tree she had used. Shifting back and redressing the tribrid made her way back to her room for a quick shower and then headed off to the library.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was around one thirty in the afternoon when the Saltzman family returned to the school. The recruiting mission was a bust. The new teen werewolf had chosen to stay with his pack. They were a little disappointed that the school wasn’t getting a new student but were happy to know that the wolf wasn’t alone in the supernatural world. They had just made it in the building when Dorian approached obviously wondering about the mission. All Josie wanted was to unpack her travel bag and take a shower, so she was relieved when they separated and he and her dad started towards his office and the twins headed off to their room.

“Hey Josie” Dorian called causing the brunette siphon to turn around, while Lizzie continued onwards. “I know you’re probably tired and all that but… you should probably check out the library first” he said.

“What? Why?” Josie replied with a little more attitude to her tone than she meant.

Dorian didn’t seem to mind. He just smiled and said “I showed up early this morning to get some extra research done, and when I got here the doors to the library were already open and Hope was sitting at a table in the corner. I don’t know how long she was there before I showed up but I’ve been here all day and I’m like ninety-nine percent sure she hasn’t moved at all. I don’t think there’s anything seriously wrong but you should probably check on her.”

The mention of her girlfriend’s name had piqued Josie’s interest. Why was she in the library? How long had she been there? Was she ok? Had she eaten anything? Or hydrated? Without even responding to Dorian she took off in the direction of the library in a hurry, bag and everything not noticing the smiles on Dorian and her father's faces.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Josie was walking into the library when she spotted Hope sitting at the same table Dorian described. She observed the girl for a moment before approaching. The tribrid looked ok. She was staring at a single page in what was apparently the journal of Stefan Salvatore. Josie could tell she wasn’t really reading it. She just didn’t know if it was because Hope had already read that thing at least a hundred times or if it was because she wasn’t focused. She hesitated startling Hope knowing that the shorter girl wouldn’t be amused but she decided to have some fun anyway. Josie snuck up behind Hope and wrapped her arms around the other girl’s upper body.

Hope tensed immediately, no doubt wondering who in their right mind would touch the legendary tribrid without her permission. The cute scowl on her girlfriend’s face turned into her beautiful Mikaelson smirk. Even if it was a little lopsided.

“Hey, Jos. When did you get back?” Hope wondered aloud eyelids slightly drooping.

“A little bit ago” replied Josie planting a kiss on top of her head. “In fact, I was about to go unpack and take a really long, hot shower when Dorian told me that I should go to the Library first. Wanna tell me why?”

“Hm?” Hope mumbled. “Dorian was here?” followed by the biggest and longest yawn Josie had ever seen.

“Babe are you alright?” Josie questioned. “You seem... Kinda out of it.”

“Yeah I’m fi-” Hope started but was cuz of by an even bigger yawn. “I just didn’t get much sleep last ni-” followed by another yawn. “And then cuz sleep wasn’t happening I went for a run.”

“One of those nights huh, babe?” Josie said with a small smile. She knew that Hope almost always had a lot on her mind and that sometimes it was too much and she’d succumb to the pressure that the unfair amount of responsibilities placed on her shoulders. Her suspicions were confirmed when all Hope could do was sluggishly nod at her. “C’mon then.” She said grabbing her girlfriends hand. The lack of sleep and the amount of energy used to shift left the girl running on fumes and it was showing. “You need some sleep and I need a shower.”

Hope allowed the taller girl to lead her to the Twin’s room. It took longer than Josie thought it would, apparently Hope was super clumsy and uncoordinated when she was very tired but they eventually made it to her room. Shoving the door open she was surprised to find Lizzie already inside. She had expected the blonde to already be out somewhere on the town after being away for a week.

“Hey, Josie where’d you run off to?” Lizzie called out to her sister before she realized they had company. “Oh” she commented quickly after turning towards the door.

Josie had pulled Hope over to her bed before giving her a light shove causing the exhausted tribrid’s knees to knock against the side prompting her to fall onto the mattress. She rolled over and gave Josie a look that probably would’ve been more menacing if the girl’s face wasn’t drooping in exhaustion.

Lizzie observed the whole situation with wide eyes, never seeing Hope like this before. She’d have to remember to ask Josie about it privately later. She may not like her sister’s partner very much but she was smart enough to know when to keep certain things private and this was definitely one of those things. Not only that but if Lizzie said something to anyone and if affected either her sister or her sister’s girlfriend in any way, Josie would be furious.

Speaking of the brunette twin, she had just mentioned Lizzie’s name but the blonde wasn’t listening. “What?” she asked.

“I said, I’m going to go take a shower and you-” she pointed at Lizzie “are going to watch her-” she pointed a Hope “until I get back” Josie repeated, clearly annoyed that Lizzie wasn’t listening.

“Excuse me?” Lizzie asked “What do you mean ‘watch her’? I’m not a babysitter and even if I was why should I?” She was not entertained by the idea of spending any time with Hope.

“Because look at her, she’s like milliseconds away from passing out, she didn’t even react to me telling you to watch her. She would’ve had a mouthful of attitude to give any other day. Also, you’ll do it cuz I'm asking you to, cuz I'm your sister. Look it’ll only be for like...5...10 minutes max. I promise. I just want to take a quick shower and then you can go, do whatever or...something. Just, make sure she doesn’t roll off the bed or something. And definitely make sure she doesn’t try to go anywhere.”

“Fine” Lizzie snapped. “But don’t expect me to… I don’t know… hold her or anything!”

“That’s fine, she probably wouldn’t like that anyway.” Josie shot back on her way out the door.

“She's right, there’s no way you’re as soft and cuddly as she is.” voiced Hope, now lying face down on Josie’s bed. Lizzie whipped around and threw a glare at the bed. Josie had better not take her sweet time or she just might push the stupid wolf girl off the bed herself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Josie rushed through her shower. She washed her face, and her body as quickly as she could. She lathered her hair with shampoo, rinsed, then conditioner, rinsed and was out of the shower in about 8 minutes. She dried off with her towel, dressed quickly in some shorts and a crop top and was walking back to her room wrapping up her hair. She rushed through the door to see Lizzie looking at her with an unamused look.

“Cutting it close huh” she said sharply. “I didn’t know anyone could be more annoying when they’re tired.” she huffed

Hope was now sitting up on the edge of the bed wearing what looked like to be some of Josie’s clothes. “She tried to leave. Maybe to follow you or to go back to her room or something. I don’t know. So I gave her some shorts and one of your many oversized sweatshirts to change into and told her to stay put.” Lizzie said.

“It’s really comfy” Hope slurred waving her arms around in the sleeves that were way too long for her. The base of the sweatshirt coming down to the middle of her thighs. Josie smiled at the view in front of her. She really wanted to take a picture but knew Hope wouldn’t appreciate that. Instead, she went over to her bookshelf to grab a few books and brought them over with her. She plugged her phone into the charger, set both items on the nightstand beside the bed and pulled the blankets up enough to pull Hope under with her. Josie was settling against Hope’s back while Lizzie was putting the finishing touches on the outfit she had picked out for wherever she was running off to that evening.

“Jos?” Hope whispered nervously, so quiet that Lizzie thought something was wrong. She turned to cast a raised eyebrow in her sister’s direction.

“Yeah, babe?” Josie whispered back.

“Could I- W-would it be ok if- if I held you instead?” Hope asked so quietly Lizzie thought she imagined it.

Josie just smiled brightly and nodded. She figured that this would happen. Her girlfriend liked those kinds of assurances. Hope wasn’t exactly fond of being held, it was too restricting for her free spirit, though for Josie she would often endure. Hope had confessed to Josie a month or two into their relationship that the reason she preferred to hold was that it felt more real that way. Being able to hold Josie comforted Hope in so many ways, but her favorite of those being that wrapping her arms around the brunette siphon reassured Hope that this was in fact, real and that her being happy was possible and that she wasn’t alone in this cruel world. Josie being soft, warm and cuddly was just another benefit for the auburn haired girl. Hope found that she was a big fan of cuddling after she began dating Josie.

As they shifted into their new position Lizzie took this as a good time to leave the two alone and made her way to the door, pausing before exiting. “Are you gonna miss dinner?” she asked.

“Probably” Josie sighed. She wasn’t angry at all but judging by the Hope had embraced her just now she knew she probably wasn’t going anywhere for a while. Hope had indeed wrapped her arms tightly around Josie’s waist, tangled their legs and buried her face into her neck. The shorter girl’s breathing was already evening out, the lack of sleep and excess energy used from shifting finally catching up to her. The steady beat of Josie’s heart pulling her deeper and deeper into the void.

“I’m going to hang with MG, Raf, and some others. There’s a party tonight and they’ll definitely need my help to set it up so I won’t be back until way late. I’ll bring you a granola bar or a pop tart or something before I leave for the party.” Lizzie said still standing in the doorway.

“Thanks, Liz” Josie replied.

“Do you- uh- should I bring something back for... _her_ ” The blonde basically choked out, like being kind to Hope in any way would actually kill her.

“No, that’s fine. She was really exhausted. I’m betting she’ll be out until late tomorrow morning, maybe even until the afternoon. That’s why I brought these books over. But if all else fails I can just do something on my phone. I’ll probably just end up napping with her as well.”

Lizzie didn’t say anything. She just nodded and left.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alaric hadn’t seen Josie since they got back from their mission. They had been with dear old dad for a week so he knew that his daughters probably wanted space but he was surprised when she didn’t show up for dinner. He was making his way up to his daughter’s room with a package of pop tarts and a bottle of water that was thrown at him by Lizzie with instructions to make sure Josie got them. He was confused that was for sure, but after knocking on the door to their room and getting the hushed ok to enter he understood. Josie was laying on her side looking at something on her phone wrapped up in what Alaric could only describe as a protective embrace by none other than Hope Mikaelson. He could hear the soft, even breaths from the doorway.

“Hey dad’ Josie whispered.

“Hi sweety” Alaric replied. “I hadn’t seen you since we got back. Then you missed dinner and Lizzie told me to bring these to you, so I was worried you had gotten sick or something” He said holding up the pop tart and water bottle. “But I see you’re just, uh, occupied”

“I’m sorry” Josie could only whisper.

Alaric was so stunned he could only manage a single word. “What?”

Josie’s eyes began to turn glassy. “I know you guys aren’t getting along right now but I really like her dad. But I love you too. I know we haven’t really talked about us dating, I just, I don’t want you to be mad at me. I just don’t want you to feel betrayed. Like I’m picking sides”

Alaric walked over to kneel beside Josie’s bed. Placing the water and food beside the books on the nightstand. “Sweetheart I’m not mad. It’s no secret that Hope and I aren’t getting along like we used to but if she makes you happy and treats you right then I’m all for it.” Alaric counters.

A single tear rolled down Josie’s cheek and fell onto the pillow. Like a sixth sense Hope murmurs in her sleep and tightens her hold on the girl, curling around her even more than before.

All Alaric can do is smile. It was an incredibly endearing sight. He may have shattered his relationship with Hope for good this time, but he knew that no matter what she would be good to Josie.

“Are- are you sure…” Josie questions.

Alaric nods. “I have a feeling that she will take good care of you. I don’t want you two being together to drive a wedge between us. I don’t know if Hope and I will be able to get along again. I said some pretty horrible things to her about her dad, and I don’t think I’ll be able to take them back this time. But. I want you to know that I’m serious Josie, I don’t care if you’re together, If you’re happy then I’m happy. Just make sure that us not getting along doesn’t drive a wedge between the two of you” he says with a small smile. “And also don’t forget, she’s had a difficult past. She might try to push you away or tell you that she is fine when she isn’t. Don’t let her. Be there for her. Make her know that you’re not just going to walk away when things get tough. When push comes to shove, just shove her back...I know I’ve been spending a lot of time with her instead of my own two beautiful daughters, and I’m sorry about that. But I’ve also spent enough time with her to know that if she’s let you in, she will be there for you know matter what. So do the same.” Alaric finishes. Satisfied with his fatherly advice he bends down to kiss his daughter on the forehead before making his way towards the door.

“Hey dad” Josie whispers.

“Hmm?”

Deciding to tempt fate again Josie held out her phone. “Can you take a picture for me?”

Alaric raised an eyebrow at that request. He knew full well that the Mikaelson girl would definitely not be ok with that. He also knew full well that Josie knew that.

Knowing exactly what her dad was thinking Josie reassured him. “It’s ok. I’ll make sure she knows it was taken.”

“Ok then” Alaric chuckled taking the phone to snap a quick picture. “Just wanted to make sure you knew what you were getting into”

“Thanks, dad” Josie said, receiving her phone back.

Alaric just smiled and nodded making his way out of the twin’s room.

Josie knew that she could swindle her girlfriend into letting her keep the photo. Hope may be the big bad wolf, but nothing made her swoon like Josie’s chocolate puppy-dog eyes. Placing her phone back on the nightstand and turning off the light she decided she may as well get some sleep too. She wasn’t going anywhere for a while anyway.

**Author's Note:**

> Remember to like, comment, and subscri- wait wrong platform... Let me know if you guys enjoyed reading!
> 
> Thanks for stopping by!  
> Cheers~
> 
> P.S. yes I know my summaries are hot garbage but I'm working on it lol


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